My Oldest Daughter, Grace Doing Math
Are you frustrated with the results that your children are getting through their public or private schooling? Are you concerned about the education that they are getting? Have you heard of the homeschool advantage?
Consider the benefits of homeschooling. When you commit to giving your child the best education through homeschooling, you will have what is called the homeschool advantage. Many colleges are more than excited to have homeschool students enroll in their classes, because they have found that these children often have a better education than students of other forms of schooling.
As a graduate of homeschooling, as well as a homeschooling parent, I have a little experience in this area and have listed here the top five advantages of homeschooling:
Homeschool Advantage #1
One of my favorite benefits of homeschooling is the flexible schedule that it allows. I love being able to change things around when the need arises. There are many examples I could give, but just recently our homeschool schedule has had to endure a few changes.
I have a 5 month old, and as all mothers know, babies at this age just don’t have the whole “nighttime is for sleeping” thing figured out quite yet. So the last few nights here have been pretty much sleepless ones for me.
Normally, I try to get the school day started at around 7:30 or 8 in the morning. But because of the strange sleeping schedule, I’ve changed that to more like a 10:30 to 11am start.
Sure, the kids get their schoolwork finished a little later than I’d like, but it is a trade-off I’m willing to accept. If I can get just an hour of extra sleep, my attitude and level of patience is so much better.
Homeschool Advantage #2
Because I want the best for my children, I want to be able to choose their curriculum. Why should I let a teacher or a education counsel do that for me? They may want their school to do well academically, but I want my CHILD to do well academically.
I know there are exceptions to this. Not every school is only focused on the school’s scores. But with homeschooling, you are able to pick and choose exactly what you want to teach your kids.
As a Christian, this homeschool advantage is vital to me. For example, I do not want my children to be taught that we evolved from apes. I want them to learn all the theories on the origin of the universe and to be able to discern for themselves the most logical theory (not to mention the most Biblical).
Ultimately, I want to be able to use the curriculum that best suits my children and their learning strengths. In a school system, this is just not possible. Every child in a classroom is taught from the same books in a school setting, whether or not they are actually learning well from that teaching style.
Homeschool Advantage #3
That leads me to a third benefit of homeschooling, which is being able to let the kids learn at their own pace. If you have more than one child, you know how different each of your children are. The learning abilities of each child are as different as their personalities.
This is abundantly clear in my family with my two oldest children. One is in 3rd grade and the other in 2nd. The 3rd grader has always been an extremely fast learner. She was reading on her own by the end of 1st grade. She was able to do all of her assignments almost completely on her own, with just a few questions here and there.
However, my 2nd grader is still needing me to read almost all of his assignments to him. He is able to do the work, but he is just not at the reading level that I had gotten used to with my 3rd grader. So instead of stressing about it, I’ve learned to go at his pace. He is improving daily with his reading abilities, just at a slower pace than his sister.
In a “normal” school setting, my son would have been held back a grade, or worse, put into a special education class. I know that just being in a class like that or being held back would have really hurt his self-image. He thrives better on encouragement and one-on-one guidance, which would not be available to him in a school setting. So this homeschool advantage is invaluable for my son.
Homeschool Advantage #4
Does your family travel a lot? My family doesn’t any more, but we used to with my husband’s old job. He used to go to Food Conventions to find vendors for the gas station he was a managing. Because my kids are homeschooled, we were able to have the freedom to travel with him to these conventions and spend fun time at the hotels.
My children’s favorite part was being able to sample all the yummy food, and of course being able to swim in the indoor pools at the hotels! My favorite part was being able to continue their education while still enjoying spending time together as a family. We would bring the books we needed for the few days we were gone. The kids were given the incentive to finish their schoolwork so that they could go play in the pool. It worked like a charm!
If my children had been in a “regular” school, we would have missed out on these fun times. We would have had to stay behind as my husband fulfilled his role as manager, because I would not be able to just pull them out of their classes for several weeks out of the year.
Homeschool Advantage #5
Because of the homeschool advantage of being able to travel, the added bonus of family closeness is nurtured. We don’t have to be apart, because we can bring school with us.
Now, my kids are still pretty young at this point, so I don’t experience what families with older children do. My kids are not running off in all different directions with their extracurricular activities. But that is not really what I am talking about as far as family closeness.
What I am referring to is what happens when the children are grown and have lives of their own. How does homeschooling affect these years? Well, since I was homeschooled as a child, I can attest to the closeness I continue to feel towards my parents as an adult.
I didn’t experience the peer pressure of other children telling me how my parents were “stupid” and that they didn’t know anything. I grew up with a healthy relationship with my parents, understanding that they knew what was best for me and were doing their best to give me a homeschool advantage!
I hope this list has given you some encouragement, whether you are thinking of starting homeschooling or you are a veteran homeschooler. Knowing the advantages of homeschooling can be a great reminder that the work we are doing for our children is totally worth it!
If you are a homeschooler and have experienced some benefits of homeschooling in your life or your children’s lives, please share them in the comment box. I’d love to hear your story!
